HE Was the Oldest Son - Overlooked

Although the oldest son, George Sampson was often overlooked!!

George A. Sampson was born on 8 June 1869 in Excelsior, Hennepin County, Minnesota.[1] The second child and oldest son of Leroy Francis and Eliza (Spaulding) Sampson, he lived with his parents and siblings in Excelsior and Chanhassen. His parents were born in Maine and Rhode Island, so he had deep roots in New England, as did many others in the area.

George's life was cut short at an early age when he died on 9 September 1890 in Excelsior, having never married. His cause of death was given as traumatic tetanus, which likely resulted from a puncture wound. He was working as a clerk at the time, so it seems unlikely that it was an on-the-job accident.[2] 

In 1890, there was no cure or prevention of tetanus, and it was usually a death sentence, killing 85% of those infected. Tetanus was incredibly painful. It caused muscle stiffness, including "lockjaw," muscle spasms, and difficulty swallowing and breathing. Usually treated with morphine or opium, patients were kept in dark, quiet rooms and sometimes fed by a feeding tube. There was little the doctors could do, and all the family could do was watch him die a painful, likely protracted death.[3]

George was just 21 years old when he died, barely a man. Yet his younger brother Walter was often described as the oldest son of Leroy and Eliza.[4] And while technically, after George's death, this was true, it still feels like George was "overlooked" in this description. Walter would have been better described as the oldest "living" son of Leroy and Eliza. 

The Sampson family was close-knit, so perhaps the loss of young George was just too much, and the family chose not to mention him. While others may have overlooked him, I suspect his parents never stopped thinking about their young son, lost to a disease that would soon be preventable and curable. 

This week's prompt for #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks was Overlooked!

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1 No record of his birth has been found. The date is calculated from the age given on his death record.

2  “Minnesota County Deaths, 1850-2001,” digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPS1-ZPPV : accessed 18 January 2025); entry for George A. Sampson, Hennepin County, 9 September 1890. FSL DFN 7552565, Image 1100.

3 Battling Tetanus, Smithsonian  online article https://www.si.edu/spotlight/antibody-initiative/battling-tetanus?utm_source=chatgpt.com: accessed 19 January 2025.

4  “Minnetonka, The Minneapolis Journal, 11 April 1901, p.5, col. 5; digital image, newspapers (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 19 January 2025).